King’s Ambulance Medal for Distinguished Service awarded to Yorkshire Ambulance Service Manager

Ola Zahran, Chief Technology Officer at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, has been awarded the King’s Ambulance Medal for Distinguished Service (KAM) in the King’s Birthday Honours list 2024.

During her career, Ola has played a key role in the development of the digital agenda and healthcare technologies at the Trust, regionally and nationally.  She has led on a number of complex national projects for the ambulance sector and wider healthcare community, including the Unified Communications project where she was responsible for supplier engagement and implementation, and was instrumental in sharing learning from the roll-out in Yorkshire to benefit other ambulance services across the country.

Ola has also worked at the centre of the integration of the Yorkshire and Humber Care Record, part of NHS England’s Local Health and Care Record Exemplar Programme, enabling frontline ambulance staff, clinical hubs and remote clinical staff to access patients’ full recent medical histories to make more informed decisions around treatment decisions.

Peter Reading, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “This is a great honour which recognises Ola’s tremendous contribution to the comprehensive digital support we rely on for all service-lines we operate.  It also makes her part of a hand-picked group of ambulance service staff who have been recognised for their exceptional input and outstanding ability in the sector.

“Ola is a long-serving and hugely respected and trusted member of staff within Yorkshire Ambulance Service and across the national ambulance community.  Her unwavering commitment to technological advancements has made a significant and visible difference to patient care.

“On behalf of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, I would like to thank her for all she has done and continues to do in a vital support service. She should be very proud of this fantastic achievement.”

Ola Zahran said: “I am delighted and humbled to be awarded the King’s Ambulance Medal. It is great to see the importance of digital services recognised and the critical support they provide to frontline operations.  I am immensely proud of the team behind me, and their dedication to the ambulance service and commitment to innovation which are second to none.  If it wasn’t for their excellent support, I would not have been in a position to receive this award.”

Ola will be presented with her medal at Buckingham Palace in due course.

Other recipients of the King’s Ambulance Medal in the Birthday Honours list are:

• David Dean, Senior Paramedic Mentor, East of England Ambulance Service.
• Michael Jenkins, Regional Clinical Lead-Consultant Paramedic, Welsh Ambulance Service.
• Heather Foster-Sharpe, Assistant Director Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.
• Mark Mapp, Chief Executive Officer, Ambulance & Rescue Guernsey.